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Tourism summit draws business owners and community leaders

Marlene Wood, general manager of Tourism Sarnia Lambton, stands next to Roger Brooks, a destination marketing expert who was the keynote speaker at Wednesday's Lambton County Tourism Summit held at Lambton College's Event Centre. It attracted approximately 50 tourism and community leaders from across the community who heard about efforts and strategies to attract visitors. (PAUL MORDEN, The Observer)

Destination marketing guru Roger Brooks has two words for businesses and communities putting their own name at the top of their tourist ads and brochures, "Stop it."

That was part of the message the former tour manager for Fleetwood Mac turned tourism marketer brought to approximately 50 people attending Wednesday's Lambton County Tourism Summit at Lambton College's Event Centre.

Brooks told the tourism operators and community leaders at the second annual summit that success comes from marketing experiences.

"We're looking for things to do, not places to go," he said.

Because of that, he said, the names of communities and businesses belong at the bottom of those brochures, not the top.

The summit was organized by Tourism Sarnia Lambton, the county-funded agency that promotes an industry ranked as the region's third largest. Tourism attracts more than two million visitors a year, generating more than $177 million in spending.

Brooks said he didn't know a lot about the Sarnia-Lambton area before he arrived for the summit, but added, "I hope people see you are more than a pit stop along the 402."

He added, "That's a big deal, how do you get people to stop and stay."

One new trend promotes the idea, "arrive a visitor, leave a local," Brooks said.

"People want to connect with the local culture, local people, local food."

Communities need an "anchor tenant" to be successful, Brooks said.

"It could be as simple as the best cinnamon rolls that you can find anywhere in Ontario."

It should be something they've heard or read about, but it doesn't have to be a major attraction to draw visitors in, he said.

"It's just something that they go, 'Oh my gosh, we've got to stop, I heard about that.'"

If visitors can then be enticed to stay in a community for two hours, their spending will double, Brooks said.

"If they spend the night, spending quadruples," he added.

"That's the ultimate goal, to become an overnight destination."

He also talked about the need to pay attention to the power of the baby boom generation that makes up 80% of the travel business, and women who make 70% of travel decisions.

"Cater to women," Brooks said.

Another growing trend is inter-generational travel, he said. Some three million Canadians travelled with children, or grandchildren, in 2012, Brooks said.

Marlene Wood, general manager of Tourism Sarnia Lambton, said her office has been working in recent months to implement several of Brooks' recommendations.

Janet Jones, with Ontario's Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports, said Michigan visitors account for 18% of the travellers to Sarnia-Lambton, and they're the source of 20% of the tourism spending.

Most visitors to Sarnia-Lambton are Ontario residents on day-trips, with 37% of those trips happening between July and September, she said.